Nepal's tourism industry has another foe, and it is the United States State Department, the global policeman which has given itself the role of sending out circulars and "travel advisories" to all and sundry at the slightest hint of trouble anywhere. While this may get State off the hook lest any American citizen decides to sue it for not warning them that there are head-hunters in New Guinea, it does incalculable harm to the tourism industry of countries like Nepal.

Why do travel advisories for American diplomats warning against travel outside Kathmandu Valley have to be released to wire services in Washington-can't they just be posted on the bulletin board of the embassy in Panitanki? Such alerts may or may not have any impact on American tourists-their numbers in Nepal are pretty small for us to bother about-but through the Internet they have the potential of scaring away visitors from other members of the Multinational Coalition. Maybe Shital Niwas should start sending out advisories warning Nepalis to not visit certain parts of Los Angeles.